Disclaimer: This I Play Rocky interview has been edited for brevity and clarity.
The Rocky story is known to many a film history buff. Sylvester Stallone repeatedly refused lucrative offers to sell his screenplay. Stallone was adamant that he be the one to play the titular character. Executives wanted to hire an already established movie star instead. Stallone held steadfast and won in the end. Rocky went on to achieve enormous financial and critical success. It was the highest-grossing movie of 1976. Nominated for ten Academy Awards, it won three, including Best Picture.
I Play Rocky tells the origins of Sylvester Stallone as the creator of Rocky and how the movie was made. It heavily relies on audience familiarity with the original film. Without that, it’s impossible to fully appreciate the level of attention to detail in recreating memorable scenes.
Tracy Letts is a Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright and two-time Tony winner. Letts has also written screenplays for three of his plays to be adapted in films. His acting and writing career spans across film, television, and theatre. In I Play Rocky, Letts plays a fictional composite character representing multiple executives at United Artists.
LadyJenevia: Sandy Maddox is the personification of the corporate machine behind show business. In your process of building his personality, is he an amalgam of the corporate businessminded figures you’ve had to deal with as a playwright and screenwriter?
Letts: Yeah, I suppose he is. So much of the character’s on the page, and you know, those business guys in arts, entertainment, movie business, they’ve always been there. They will always be there. I’ve encountered guys like that, but we all have. They’re just businessmen. They’re there to make money, and if they don’t make money, they get fired. I could just make him up because he’s not based on any one real guy.
LadyJenevia: Your scenes with Toby Kebbell and P. J. Byrne were some of the funniest in the movie. Was comedy an explicit goal of this collaboration, or was it simply a byproduct of Sandy’s personality and the power disparity in that relationship?
Letts: I think the piece is a comedy. A lot of the promotion has played up the inspirational angle which is certainly a part of it but first and foremost, it’s a comedy. I loved the way those scenes were written and P. J. and Toby are both really funny guys. I had not met them before working on this, but they’re really funny guys. We went in there looking to stay true to the scene, but also to find places to have fun and have a few laughs. The comedy is inherent in the scenes. It was just a matter of getting in there with those guys and with Peter [Farrelly] and finding it.
LadyJenevia: You’ve said in other interviews of yours that you avoid a character type you call ‘the man behind the desk’ and Sandy is at times quite literally a man sitting behind a desk. Were there any reservations you had about taking the job, or was there something else about either him as a character or the story itself that really made you want to participate anyway?
Letts: I do get offered a lot of assholes in suits, men behind desks. I get offered a lot of those parts because I’ve played them and, I don’t know, because I’m 6’2” and because I’m old, because I have this voice. For whatever reason, people like to see me in that in that role. I always look for the thing that makes it a little different, some area of interest or something I feel I can do with the part.
I was especially compelled by this story because I saw Rocky in 1976. I loved the film. I knew the story of Stallone trying to get the movie made. A lot of us did back in 1976. I knew that story pretty well. But the script was so good and so deft in putting those elements together, constructing the story. And beyond that, there was just a real-warm open heart about the whole project. There was a real generosity of spirit in the thing. It didn’t feel at all cynical or self-aggrandizing. It just felt really cool, so I wanted to be a part of it.
I had never worked with Peter before, and I’ve enjoyed his work in the past. It was something I readily said yes to. I found some things I thought I could do with the part to make it fun, so it was an easy yes for me.
LadyJenevia: I Play Rocky is about a movie being made by a less established name as both an actor and screenwriter. Today’s movie-making market is probably the most corporate it’s ever been. It’s very IP-driven and franchise-heavy. To what extent would you say that it’s the audience’s responsibility to try to change the tides of that market and allow for more newer artists to break through?
Letts: I partly agree with you in your statement about it being IP-driven and all that stuff that speaks to studio filmmaking, but that doesn’t necessarily speak to independent filmmaking or international filmmaking. I do think there are other areas where we could sort of get around the Hollywood IP-ization of our movie culture. Are audiences responsible? Sure. I mean, you know, turn off the tap, man, and stop watching that shit. If you stop watching it, then they’ll stop making it. You’re not forced to watch the garbage that they make. Commit yourself to the good stuff. That’s why when The Devils comes out on the big screen, people should go see The Devils and support that and get more of that kind of work in the theatre.
With audiences, it’s a two-way street. Audiences respond to what they’re given and [studios] give audiences what they think audiences want.
LadyJenevia: Much of your career has been in the world of theatre, whether you’re the one performing on stage or writing the stories. Now you’ve also done plenty of work in television and film as well. We see a lot more theatre mixed into actors’ careers in somewhere like London compared to the American market. What would you say to more of the American actors about the advantages, creatively and artistically, that going and doing theatre can bring to being able to act on film and television?
Letts: I always recommend theater for everybody. I recommend it for audiences to see and I recommend it for artists to participate in. Actors that I’ve seen and encountered who have some facility on the stage, it always translates to more facility on camera. Get on stage, go do a play. You don’t have to go do Cat on a Hot Tin Roof on Broadway to start. You can just go do a play in the town where you live. You could go do Off-Broadway, or you could do Off-Broadway, but just have that experience of doing a play eight times a week and learning some craft. My wife and I recommend it to any and all. Every time we’re working with theatre actors, when we’re on a film set, we see the benefit. There’s just an underpinning to the performance that is undeniable.
LadyJenevia: I have one final question. One of the things I do on my channel is I advocate a lot for making good use of public libraries. Would you be so kind as to share a book recommendation? Anything you like.
Letts: What I’ve just read is Candice Bergen’s memoir that she wrote in the 1980s. It’s called Knock Wood. It’s a great read. Candice Bergen’s father was a famous ventriloquist. She grew up with her brother basically being a ventriloquist’s dummy. It’s well written, it’s intriguing, and I love Candace Bergen. Knock Wood by Candice Bergen. That’s my recommendation.
LadyJenevia: Thank you so much. I’ll recommend to you Empire of AI by Karen Hao. It’s an exposé on Sam Altman and his company [OpenAI]. People are going to see Luca Guadagnino’s film presumably about the same topic, but the book goes in far more detail.
Letts: Sure. Have you seen the Luca movie yet?
LadyJenevia: Not yet, but it’s high on my to-watch list.
Letts: Yeah, I hear it’s great. I’m really intrigued by it. I think, with I Play Rocky, I mean, as long as we’re on the topic of Sam Altman…
I think one of the real secrets to the success of I Play Rocky is the message that there are more important things than money. In this time, in our history in 2026, it’s an important thing for people to hear. People can’t even kind of imagine turning down all that money because of a bigger belief. As we’re being crushed by these fucking assholes, that’s an important lesson for people to hear.
LadyJenevia: Well, thank you so much for your time, Tracy. Congratulations on your incredible performance. I really enjoyed it.
Letts: Thanks!
I Play Rocky releases in cinemas on November 6.
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